Q3: Life Lessons In Novels

It is hard to choose the best book that I have ever read in an English class, I think it’s tied between two. Sophmore year in Mr. Edward’s english class we read To Kill A Mockingbird. I don’t really know what I liked about this book so much. I think that it taught the readers so much without them even realizing it. The main thing I was able to take from the story was acceptance of others, and not to judge people. During the trial, Atticus was looked down upon for defending a black man during a trial. Even though they lost the trial in the end, it taught Jem and Scout that Tom Robinson wasn’t much different than they were. The only major difference was his skin color, which is something that people should not be treated differently because of. Jem and Scout also learned to accept Boo Radley. The learned not to listen to the rumors that people were saying about him and instead, learn for themselves who he really is. The other book that I read in an English class was Tuesdays With Morrie. I read it in my senior English class and she made it the last novel we read in hopes that it would touch our hearts and leave us more open minded as we graduate high school soon. It teaches you the importance of really living your life. Even when Morrie was on his deathbed, he tried making the best of life and passed his messages, or aphorisms, to his former student Mitch. What touched me even more about this novel is that it is a true story. The aphorisms that Morrie mentioned along with all the interviews with Nightline host Ted Koppel were real, not just something made up to patch up any open areas in Mitch Albom’s novel.